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Sports roundup from Monday, February 3

The Alexandria gymnastics team ran into the top-ranked team in Class A on Monday night and fell to Melrose 148.55-135.75.

The top finish of the night for Alexandria came on the floor as Hannah Wendel tied for first with a 9.45. That was part of a third-place all-around finish for Wendel as she posted a score of 37.175. Bria Schueler was fourth in the all-around at 31.6.

Wendel and Tahlia Bowden tied for second on the vault with scores of 9.325. Wendel then finished fourth on the bars (8.95) and the beam (9.45) to pace the Cardinals in both those events.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

Holdingford 42, Osakis 41

The Osakis boys lost a tough one on Monday night as Holdingford got a putback bucket with about one second left to secure a 42-41 win.

The Silverstreaks were up by one with nine seconds left when they missed the front end of a one-and-one. That was one of three free throws they missed in one-and-one opportunities.

“We were down at the half and we made some adjustments to get us the lead in the second half,” head coach Matt Hoelscher said. “We were up eight with four minutes and couldn’t hold on. We missed three front ends of one-and-ones at the end to put the game away. We then turned it over two out of four possessions.”

Lane Berberich led the way for Osakis with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting. He hit 3-of-5 threes, while Drew Fearing returned from injury to post nine points. Fellow senior Hunter Scherr also added eight.

The loss dropped Osakis to 5-14 overall and moved Holdingford to 4-16.

Rothsay 55, Brandon-Evansville 53 (F/OT)

The Brandon-Evansville boys got outscored 6-4 in overtime on Monday night as Rothsay held on for a 55-53 Little Eight Conference win.

“We had our chances,” Chargers head coach John Holsten said. “We were up six with two minutes to go and committed some turnovers and gave up some second-chance opportunities and they got the win. We let this one slip away.”

The loss dropped the Chargers to 2-15 overall and to 0-10 in the Little Eight Conference. Rothsay improved to 4-12 and 2-6 in league play.

Ashby 73, Parkers Prairie 48

Ashby’s Blake Ohren became the all-time leading scorer in Ashby boys’ basketball history on Monday night as he helped the Arrows to a 73-48 win over Parkers Prairie.

Ohren finished with 17 points. He needed nine points to set the new mark that his cousin, Riley Mickelson, held of 1,253 points. Ohren reached that ninth point on a three-pointer at the 4:20 mark. He now has 1,262 points in his career for the Arrows.

“Obviously, you need to have talent to achieve such accomplishments,” head coach Jeremy Knick said. “But it is also the result of a lot of hard work and time spent in the gym and working in the offseason. Blake has earned this accomplishment and yet has been humble in the process. He is a great representative of the Ashby School and community.”

Morgan Wing is also establishing himself as quite a player for this program. He continued his nice season with 26 points. Grant Yohnke led the Panthers with 16 points.

“We played pretty good defensively throughout and on offense we were patient yet aggressive,” Knick said. “We did a nice sharing the ball and taking good shots. We were 30 for 47 (64%) on the night including 6 of 14 from beyond the arc and making 7 of 11 free throws. I would say this is one of our best team efforts in a several games and now we need to stay the course.”

Ashby moved to 10-9 overall and to 5-5 in the Little Eight Conference with the win. The Panthers fell to 5-11 and 4-6 in league play.

Minnewaska 88, BOLD 83

The offense was clicking for both teams on Monday night as Minnewaska beat BOLD in an 88-83 game.

Jayden Beecher led three Lakers players in double figures. He had 24 points to go along with six rebounds and six assists. Austin Ostrander added 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, while Austin VerSteeg had 18 points and 11 rebounds.

The Lakers improved to 8-11 with the win and 5-7 in the West Central Conference. The Warriors fell to 9-7 and 3-4 in league play.

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

Alexandria 69, Brainerd 43

The Alexandria girls won their fourth straight game on Monday night to move to 12-3 overall and to 9-1 in the Central Lakes Conference after a 69-43 victory over Brainerd.

The Warriors stayed within striking distance for much of the first half, but the Cardinals took a 34-20 lead into the break. They stretched that out in the second half behind a balanced effort of four players with at least eight points. Amanda Christianson led the way with 19. Brooke Heggie added 16, while Karly Betterman had 11 and Kendall Kohler finished with eight.

Staples-Motley 60, Osakis 50

A 13-game winning streak for the Osakis girls’ basketball team came to an end on Monday night against section foe Staples-Motley.

The Cardinals are 12-4 and once again a contender in the Section 6AA field. They proved that by beating a good Silverstreaks team that is now 14-2 after a 60-50 loss on Monday.

“Tough loss for the girls,” Osakis head coach Pat Kalpin said. “I thought we played hard enough to win, just didn't hit the shots we needed to. The story of the game was at the free throw line. They outscored us by 15 there, which made a huge difference. I felt we played hard enough, and I'm very proud of our effort.”

The Silverstreaks got to the line just seven times, converting six of those opportunities. They also hit on just 37 percent from the field (18-51). The two teams were tied at 27 at the half, but the Cardinals outscored the Silverstreaks 33-23 the rest of the way.

Brooke Sorenson had a nice night for the Silverstreaks with 17 points and six assists. Mackenzie Staloch added nine points, while Annalise Savageau finished with eight points as Staples-Motley held Osakis’ leading scorer to a 3-for-9 night from the field.

Wheaton 60, Ashby 49

The Ashby girls trailed by six at the break and couldn’t make that up in the second half as Wheaton handed the Arrows a 60-49 loss on Monday night.

“I am proud of how our girls continued to work hard on both ends of the court tonight, even when we were down,” Ashby head coach Troy Mickelson said. “Our girls never give up, as a coaching staff this means a lot to us.”

Ashby fell to 3-13 overall with the loss, while Wheaton moved to 9-8.

WCA 61, Upsala 47

The West Central Area girls used 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists from Holly Van Kempen to move past Upsala in a 61-47 Prairie Conference win on Monday night.

The Knights also got 13 points from Jordan Anderson, eight points and five rebounds from Tiana Christenson and seven points apiece from Kylee Fernholz and Abby Van Kempen.

Browerville 80, Parkers Prairie 63

The Browerville and Parkers Prairie girls basketball teams saw just how far hot shooting can go in an 80-63 win for the Tigers on Monday night.

Browerville led 50-42 after a first half in which both teams had no problem shooting the ball. Quinn Kircher hit seven three pointers by halftime to lead the Tigers’ scoring with 21 points.

The hot shooting cooled off a little for both teams in the second half as Browerville won a battle that could be replayed again in the North Division of the Section 5A tournament.

Crystal Pearson led the scoring for Browerville in the game with 31 points while Kircher finished with 25. Micaela Noga led the Parkers Prairie’s offense with 24 points.

“We weren’t expecting that, I think they kind of shot out of their heads tonight,” Micaela Noga said. “It was a really good game for us. That is who we are probably going to play in the subsection championship.”

The Alexandria boys’ hockey team lost its second straight Central Lakes Conference game on Monday night after going unbeaten in league play through its first 10 contests.

The Cardinals welcomed in St. Cloud Apollo and led 1-0 after one period before the Eagles scored two unanswered to win 2-1. Those goals came from Paul Kenney as he scored at 1:17 in the second and 9:49 in the third to secure the win for his team. Parker Revering scored the goal for Alexandria.

The Cardinals are now 9-2-1 in the CLC. The loss helped Brainerd move into first place in the league with an 8-1-1 record.

GIRLS’ HOCKEY

St. Cloud 3, Alexandria 0

The Alexandria girls’ hockey team wrapped up its regular season on Monday night with a 3-0 loss to St. Cloud.

The Icebreakers have just one loss in the Central Lakes Conference as they improved to 10-1 on the season and 18-4-1 overall. St. Cloud scored two goals in the first to take a lead it never relinquished. The Cardinals applied more pressure in the second period, but couldn’t find the net.

“These girls are working hard and they are going to get those bounces,” head coach Blair Hovel said. “We are hoping we get them in the sectional play.”

Alexandria finished the regular season 12-11-1 overall and 5-6 in the CLC. The Cardinals are still the top seed in the Section 6A standings. The quarterfinals of the tournament are set to kick off this Saturday, with the semifinals set for next Tuesday and the championship being played on February 14.

WRESTLING

Osakis 36, Paynesville 30

The Osakis wrestling team earned a big section win on Monday night as the Silverstreaks beat Paynesville 36-30.

Peter Hagen put the exclamation point on a close match as the Osakis heavyweight pinned Mitchell Floura in 3:47 for the six points that broke a 30-30 tie. That was one of eight wins for the Silverstreaks on the night.

Brendon Coyer added a pin in just 20 seconds at 126 pounds. Devyn Johnson won by decision over Alex Mages at 106 pounds in a 14-8 match. Trenton Coyer followed with a major decision win at 120 pounds in an 11-0 match against Jared Kunstleben. Colton Waldvogel got a tech fall at 132 pounds by winning 15-0 and Garrett Sunder then pinned his man in 3:32 at 138 pounds and Ryan Engfer won the fifth straight match for Osakis with a 4-1 win at 145 pounds.

Paynesville made a move after that, getting two forfeit wins and a pin to close the gap. Tyler Spanswick broke that streak by winning 4-2 at 182 pounds before Paynesville used a decision win and a pin at 195 and 220, respectively, to tie the match heading into the heavyweight division.